Agamemnon7
Joined Feb 2004
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Ratings37
Agamemnon7's rating
Reviews4
Agamemnon7's rating
Muni does give a good performance in this film, but he gets no help at all from a comically inept screenplay. You keep expecting someone to say "Eureka! I've got it!". Things wouldn't be more preposterous or clichéd if they did.
I realize movies date over time, but I love older films and usually find them far, far better written than their more recent counterparts. This film is a sorry exception.
Pasteur's efforts, struggles and eventual triumphs would certainly make a worthy subject for a good film biography. This, sadly, is not it.
I think the Academy was acknowledging what Muni had to contend with in awarding him for this. Had they waited, he might have been awarded for an equally good performance in a much better movie (THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA) one year later.
I realize movies date over time, but I love older films and usually find them far, far better written than their more recent counterparts. This film is a sorry exception.
Pasteur's efforts, struggles and eventual triumphs would certainly make a worthy subject for a good film biography. This, sadly, is not it.
I think the Academy was acknowledging what Muni had to contend with in awarding him for this. Had they waited, he might have been awarded for an equally good performance in a much better movie (THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA) one year later.
I don't think Peeper is a very good film, but I agree that it shouldn't have completely fallen off the map the way it did. It was given a belated if limited DVD release last year.
Timing was not on this film's side. Chinatown paid tribute to film noir in classic fashion only a year before it was released; Play It Again, Sam had spoofed it successfully only a year before that. Those two films, not to mention the films of the film noir era, leave Peeper looking very slight indeed.
Still, Caine has fun as an almost bumbling detective, and Natalie brings smarts and unparalleled sex appeal to her role as a shady lady. The supporting cast is pretty nigh flawless as well, and production values couldn't be better. The script, unfortunately, doesn't add add up to much.
Director Hyams, in a special feature interview, recalls telling Natalie to turn around at the end of a long tracking shot at the end of a long day. She asked what would motivate her to do that and he answered that the camera couldn't follow her if she didn't. She paused and said, "okay, I can feel that". It's too bad that at no point in her last decade did Natalie get to make a movie where character motivation was prioritized, but it's unsurprising to hear that she was a good sport about it.
Timing was not on this film's side. Chinatown paid tribute to film noir in classic fashion only a year before it was released; Play It Again, Sam had spoofed it successfully only a year before that. Those two films, not to mention the films of the film noir era, leave Peeper looking very slight indeed.
Still, Caine has fun as an almost bumbling detective, and Natalie brings smarts and unparalleled sex appeal to her role as a shady lady. The supporting cast is pretty nigh flawless as well, and production values couldn't be better. The script, unfortunately, doesn't add add up to much.
Director Hyams, in a special feature interview, recalls telling Natalie to turn around at the end of a long tracking shot at the end of a long day. She asked what would motivate her to do that and he answered that the camera couldn't follow her if she didn't. She paused and said, "okay, I can feel that". It's too bad that at no point in her last decade did Natalie get to make a movie where character motivation was prioritized, but it's unsurprising to hear that she was a good sport about it.
